Things in the presidential horse race are liningup pretty much as one might expect - from a corporate perspective anyway.
The decks are being cleared to limit debate and blur focus. The remaining "viable" candidates now include John McCain who says we will be in Iraq for 100 years, Hillary who I once saw on "Face the Nation" saying "The American people need to relax, we are going to be in Iraq for a long time," and Mr. Obama who is now being "sold" to the public as the change agent. I still maintain that Hillary will be the Democratic party nominee and her choice for vice-president will be Obama. Don't expect anything from them. This thing is being scripted.
Kucinich supporters in Maine are feverishly sending emails around urging each other to still stand for him in the up-coming Maine caucus. The progressive Dems, as they call themselves, have a real challenge now to justify staying in that corrupt party. But most of them will likely find a way to do so as they delay the inevitable reality that their party is now a corporate appendage and virtually nothing more. Kucinich is being shoved out of the party for having dared run for president and speaking out against the Iraq occupation, for single-payer health care, and for impeachment. The Dems will now do to Kucinich what they did twice to Cynthia McKinney - run corporate controlled and "acceptable" candidates against him.
As an organizer I have a very practical question. How do we use this presidential campaign to keep our key issues in front of the American people? Hillary-Obama aren't going to do it.
I can only come back to Cynthia McKinney and her run for the Green Party nomination. We know that she will have the ability to bring peace activists, social justice activists and people of color together in a serious issue campaign. How can we ignore that?
We've reached the edge of the cliff in America. The corporate goons are ready to give us a push. Should we still be standing there debating whether the Democrats are going to come save us or dig in and save ourselves?
We have been playing defense much too long. The time has come for us to play their game on our terms.
http://www.space4peace.org
Bruce Gagnon is the Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.
Between 1983–1998 Bruce was the State Coordinator of the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice.
He was the organizer of the Cancel Cassini Campaign (launched 72 pounds of plutonium into space in 1997) that was featured on the TV program 60 Minutes.
Bruce has been featured by artist Robert Shetterly in his collection of portraits and quotes entitled Americans Who Tell The Truth.In 2006 he was the recipient of the Dr. Benjamin Spock Peacemaker Award.
In 2003 Bruce co-produced a popular video entitled Arsenal of Hypocrisy that spells out U.S. plans for space domination.His latest video, shot in 2006, is entitled The Necessity of the Conversion of the Military Industrial Complex.
In 1968 Bruce was Vice-chair of the Okaloosa County (Florida) Young Republican Club while working on the Nixon campaign for president.
Bruce is a Vietnam-era veteran and began his career by working for the United Farm Workers Union in Florida organizing fruit pickers.
of you, yes the cliff is there ,will Americans jump off like lemmings is the question.
America needs desperately a leader to bring forth an economic platform that is both far reaching and radical.The status quo of Industrial war complex and service industry , will be a recipe for failure, going ahead. After they murdered JFK someone decided that America was going to be have a Military industrial complex as it's Backbone industry .This was a suicide decision for any democratic capitalistic society.And is tantamount to there being a coup d'etat . As such a perponderance of the nations Talented people would be working directly for this Industry.It would draw all the best people from the non military industry in effect reducing the very economic life blood away from peace time industries.The real Back bone of any nation.Reduces to inferior .When the economy goes south,the war industrial complex comes alive.
by
dave stanley (5 articles, 1 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 286 comments)
on Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 2:35:37 PM
If indeed it's a Clinton/Obama there's no chance of a democratic win - not that it would make any difference to the corporations if they did win. If either one wins, which I doubt for these reason, Clinton will drive every republican to the polls and Obama will drive every bigot, so together or separate, Mr. "Bomb-bomb" McIsane becomes POTUS in another "close election" brought to you by Dieblod.
As far as the American people, you can forget about any enlightenment hitting these over-worked, under-informed, mislead, frightened lot. A 2X4 up-side the head couldn't enlighten them at this point.
Personally, I don't have any hope what so ever. None. The insane are in charge and before they give anything up they'll destroy it all first.
by
Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 9 diaries, 1254 comments)
on Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 3:10:55 PM
You are exactlly right Bruce. The Clinton former campaign people are on the obama team.
If you look, the main people on the obama campaign are former clinton people. This is public record. Then you have mccain the war monger who will get with his friend and war buddy thompson. I just wish the country would wake up from the election black out and hear the voices of candidates that matter to the people. I dont expect anything from the dems/reps except the same thing, War and poverty for the country. We as a nation will look back on this legacy as the one that backrupted the country to depression. Then there is the opportunists in the parties fighting for a title and positon, squeezing money and diverting the attention of voters away from facts of truth. When the world looks upon this country as the bully, she will not be safe from invasion.
Looks like kuchinich is getting the same treatment that Cynthia Mckinney got for speaking out against the war and impeachment. They spoke out cause the people asked and pressed them to.
This is time for a real change. Mckinney supporters are leading the fight against the msm. Antiwar activists around the world are wishing for her campaign to wake America up from teh brainwashed media campaign the other candidates are offering. I can now say that I am a McKinney supporter and invite all activists to help support her issues of peace and justice. It jsut seems that if we continue the same path, our country will be nomore. Our children will have to continue where we left off, facing the same wars around the world, conquering countries as we polute their children with weapon sales. The republicans and democrats are evil doers, supporting massive genocide at the fate of the American populous. And the people that will inherit this form of corruption in government will be the children of the future that we are supposed to protect. You can find me here blogging sometimes http://www.mckinney2008.com/
Soon the world will experience a revolution of ideas and empathy for humankind everywhere. The other parties represent war and poverty and corporate money. They are the demons that demonize mankind for generations and it is up to the people to present a change. The fact that democrats are in bed with the other parties, makes clear that there is only one party in the light and that supports corporate military iniatives to keep the mainstream government in power. THey will stop at nothing to dismantle dissent. We must organize and unite. We must unite towards one common goal and that is the dismantle of the present form. We need to continue to educate the masses and dilute the perception of holiday carnivals and make clear of the countries intentions for global rule. We are a country that killed and murdered over ((ONE MILLION) innocent civilians.
THe current candidates murdered the people and signed off on their lives, now we promote them as if they are kings. They will be remembered as the ones who choose to war in times when we should have united the world towards better life. My country is no more, United States of America has LOST its heritage. I love it sop much I have to leave. It hurts me to think what she has done to others. I do not want to be a citizen of a country that murders and then smiles with glorified retoric of reason. This country represents murder to all other countries in the world. We will continue bullying others in our torture words of invasion, when in the background other countries are arming themselves against us. Our old allies from the past, are now common enemies stockpiling weapons and arms, and training its public to hate amreican ways. Soon countries will be at the point and ready positions, to stop us by force, when the other countries unite against america and invade its terrortories. We are on a fine line of revolution and the entire world is watching. The imprisoned usa citizens are weak and show no resolve for action. Theya re brainwashed with poverty and police state force. New departments to control the american populus are signed everyday to control your thoughts of real change.
It is your last right to RESIST and hold action. This will be the last generation able (by laws) to protest affectively against the government. New mediums will be offfered online to promote change, but soon all levels wil be controled by corporate money.
'we will never forget'
by
Tri 'cat' Oxtail (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 3:14:23 PM
The cartoon is priceless, & the article is spot on.
The key passage is: "The progressive Dems....have a real challenge now to justify staying in that corrupt party. But most of them will likely find a way to do so as they delay [..recognizing..] that their party is now a corporate appendage and virtually nothing more."
With Edwards' departure, we see that the entire Democratic Party process has succeeded in eliminating every trace of challenge to the disastrous direction this country has gone in for the last 7 years. Hillary is the most rightwing of all the Dem candidates that originally started the campaign season. She's an undeclared neocon herself. She's also probably got the most defective character of all the original candidates, and her "candidacy" is actually a package deal of herself and her smooth-talking sleazeball husband. (Why must we submit to more betrayals by Bill Clinton? Haven't we had enough of them already?)
The only "alternative" is Obama, who is scarcely different from Hillary in terms of substance. His saving grace is that he seems like a nice fellow personally -- certainly not the two-faced slashing & eminently hateful calculating creature that Hillary is.
One is truly reduced to humiliating circumstances, to be forced to choose between these two wretched candidates. To prefer Obama is to say, "Well, if I must accept being ruled by the corporations & the MIC, and I must accept permanent occupation of Iraq and possibly invading Pakistan or Iran, I prefer at least doing it with a president who talks pretty and makes me feel good."
If Americans had any self-respect, which they apparently don't, they would not further debase themselves by attempting to pick the lesser of these completely unacceptable evils. They would demand the right to vote for someone who stands proud & strong against unjust US wars, for dismantling the war-industrial complex, & for holding the Bush administration criminals responsible for what they've done.
The Democratic Party will never give you that option. Leaving the party is an act of self-respect.
by
Richard Mynick (2 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 1120 comments)
on Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 5:34:05 PM
